Going organic is the craze at the moment. Which means that the demand for organic foods is steadily rising. But growing organic foodstuffs can be time consuming and is not for everyone. Not everyone has the green thumb after all. Well, its a good thing that there are other ways to get into the business without having to plant anything. It's creating organic fertilizers out of organic kitchen wastes.

I got the idea from our local barangay chairman who is a huge advocate of pro-environment businesses. We actually have a working model in our barangay. The more technical term for this is vermicomposting/vermiculture. Vermi - worms - are used to break down organic materials into usable compost - fertilizer. Its a simple process with little work required at the beginning and much less work to maintain. Of course, you have to get your hands a bit dirty for this business but you are going to be in the business of creating quality dirt.

Basic Materials

1. A plant box measuring around 2mx1mx0.3m and should be made of either plastic or wood. this will serve as your compost bed.
2. Vermi or worms. African nightcrawlers are a hardy bunch. Not to mention they multiply quickly giving your business more opportunity to grow without pumping so much money into it.
3. Fresh dirt/soil. Essential for covering up the organic kitchen wastes so it wont reek. Adding some animal manure (aged a bit) will improve the quality of the organic fertilizer produced though optional.
4. Sifter. This will be used to sort out the worms from the dirt once the process is completed.
5. Newspapers, black plastic bags, or old sacks. Used to cover the initial materials for anaerobic breakdown.

Basic Process

1. Place your compost bed in an isolated area, shaded from the sun.
2. Collect organic kitchen and yard wastes. Fruit peelings, vegetable bits, dried leaves. Meat and other dairy products are ill-advised since these breed something a bit more dangerous. Cooked foods is also a definite no-no. Just stick to plant matter.
3. Shred and sun-dry the material wastes. (1 day under the sun should be good)
4. Put some dirt as the initial layer in your compost box. Then put the dry, shredded waste materials on top of the initial layer and cover with another layer of dirt. Moisten the top layer.
5. Cover the compost box with plastic/newspaper/old sack and let it "ferment" for a week. It is vital that you put a top layer of dirt on top of the material wastes or else it will really stink when you open it after a week.
6. Remove the cover and put in your vermi - worms and leave them to do their work. It should take them some 30 days to eat through the material wastes and turn them into compost. Remember to moisten the top layer every few days.
7. Check box after 30 days by turning the top layer and checking your waste layer. If the material wastes haven't been fully consumed, give the worms a week to a couple of weeks.
8. Once the compost is ready, sift the compost for your vermi - worms so you wont include them in the packaging. Once sifted, pack the compost into small packs or sacks for selling. Move the worms to the next batch of material wastes that was prepared for composting.

Products

You can basically produce 2 products from this exercise:

1. Vermi - the worms are prolific and will multiply within the compost box. You will eventually end up with more worms than when you first started. You can sell these worms to other vermiculturists, backyard vermicomposters, farms, and the like.
2. Organic Compost - a prize among organic farmers. Even for backyard farming, these organic compost or organic fertilizers fetch a higher price than chemically enriched ones.

Expanding Your Business

As you develop your small business, you will require a steady supply of organic wastes in order to feed your need for material wastes. For suppliers, talking to neighbors will actually help. Ask them to separate your required material wastes nicely and collect them promptly. Another possible source is to ask the local food establishments for their organic material wastes. It is vital though, that you educate their kitchen crew on what you need separated so as not to have problems and more unusable wastes when you receive their batch of daily waste materials.

Talk to farms. They are always on the lookout for fresh suppliers. I wouldn't hurt to also try and talk to agriculture retailers in your area. You can also supply to plant/flower growers once you can meet the demands.

If you are in a community which practices vermicomposting, you can organize yourselves into a agri-cooperative. This way, it'll be easier to brand your products and make logistics a lot more manageable. It is also best to be in a group so you can learn a bit from the more seasoned composters, not to mention it can provide you with an effective marketing channel since it will now be a group effort.

Environmental Benefits

According to what I've heard from the various talks about this enterprise, around 50% of daily residential wastes are compostable. Which just goes to show that by doing this, you can actually help lessen the wastes thrown to landfills and reduce methane buildup in these areas. At the same time, the organic compost produced is very nutritious for growing all sorts of crops.

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I would like to apologize if there are some information missing and would appreciate additional information if available. Will update this post as I learn more. For now, this is what my notes say from the talks presented to us.